INTRODUCTION The arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) is a relatively large flatfish which occupies continental shelf waters almost exclusively until age 4, but at older ages occupies both shelf and slope waters. Two species of Atheresthes occur in the Bering Sea. Arrowtooth flounder and Kamchatka flounder (A. evermanni) are very similar in appearance and are not usually distinguished in the commercial catches. In past years, these species were not consistently separated in trawl survey catches and are combined in this assessment to maintain the comparability of the trawl survey time series. Arrowtooth flounder ranges into the Aleutian Islands region where their abundance is lower than in the eastern Bering Sea. The resource in the EBS and the Aleutians are managed as a single stock although the stock structure has not been studied. Arrowtooth flounder was managed with Greenland turbot as a species complex until 1985 because of similarities in their life history characteristics, d

INTRODUCTION The arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias) is a relatively large flatfish which occupies continental shelf waters almost exclusively until age 4, but at older ages occupies both shelf and slope waters. Two species of Atheresthes occur in the Bering Sea. Arrowtooth flounder and Kamchatka flounder (A. evermanni) are very similar in appearance and are not usually distinguished in the commercial catches. In past years, these species were not consistently separated in trawl surveycatches and are combined in this assessment to maintain the comparability of the trawl survey time series. Arrowtooth flounder ranges into the Aleutian Islands region where their abundance is lower than in the eastern Bering Sea. The resource in the EBS and the Aleutians are managed as a single stock although the stock structure has not been studied. Arrowtooth flounder was managed with Greenland turbot as a species complex until 1985 because of similarities in their life history characteristics,

monitor trawl performance since 1986 have increased our ability to tows, and cpue has risen. As direct trawl performance measurements were not available in erational data have allowed performance during a tow, ed to changes in methodology sistent samples (Lauth et al., have allowed the recognition hauls that have performed its (e.g. bottom contact). The has focused primarily on the prove swept-area measure-to bottom trawling practices ss of off-bottom hauls. The ne the effects of these opera-ndance estimates. l Marine Fisheries Service ttom trawl surveys of U.S. urces triennially since 1977